X-Men (Film Franchise)
The X-Men film series consists of superhero films based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. Entering a production-distribution deal with 20th Century Fox, longtime Star Wars producer William Walton Granger obtained the film rights to the characters in 1994, and after numerous drafts, Bryan Singer was hired to direct X-Men (2000) and its sequel X2: X-Men United (2003). Following the first film's success, Granger set out to create a larger universe, planning all future installments as such. Alongside the core series and its sequels, several spin-off films were released. The first of those X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2004), was directed by Gavin Hood, and features Wolverine's origin story. The third film in the original trilogy X-Men: The Phoenix Saga (2006), was the only film in the series directed by Granger, critically it was not as successful and Singer's sudden departure was cause for speculation. X-Men: First Class (2008), directed by Matthew Vaughn, focuses on the origins of Professor X and Magneto. X-Men: The New Mutants (2010), directed by Gavin Hood, the only other director to make more than one film, was an attempt to utilize the original cast and introduce a younger (and less cost prohibitive) team to continue the series. X-Men Origins: Mystique (2012), tells the origin of Mystique and reveals what happened to her between First Class and Days of Future Past ending with her death by Sentinels. Explaining her absence from the latter film. X-Men: The Wolverine (2013), directed by James Mangold, follows Wolverine after the events of The Phoenix Saga. The seventh film, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), featured the return of the original trilogy cast and Singer as director, serving as a sequel to both X-Men: The Phoenix Saga and X-Men: First Class. 2015's X-Force featured new characters (introduced in Days of Future Past) led by a reformed Magneto played again by Ian McKellen. In 2016 spin-off film, Deadpool was a great success. The film has broken numerous box office records and became the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, the highest grossing X-Men film, and the third-highest grossing film of 2016 (thus far). A sequel to X-Men: Days of Future Past entitled X-Men: Apocalypse, was released in May, becoming the second most successful film of the core series. X-Men, X2, X-Men: First Class, Mystique, The Wolverine, X-Force, Deadpool, Apocalypse and Logan were met with positive reviews. In the cases of the former two, critics especially highlighted their dark, realistic tones, and subtexts dealing with discrimination and intolerance. X-Men: The Phoenix Saga, The New Mutants and X-Men Origins: Wolverine were met with mixed and negative reviews from critics, respectively, while X-Men: Days of Future Past was the best-received film in the series critically and commercially. The last film to feature actor Hugh Jackman in the role of Wolverine was released was in 2017. Logan was the second R-rated film in the series and was inspired by the comic Old Man Logan featuring an older Logan taking care of a dying Charles Xavier in a dystopian future. With ten films released, the X-Men film series is the 14th highest-grossing film franchise of all-time, having grossed over 3 billion worldwide. The series is expected to continue with spin-off films Gambit, Deadpool 2 and Dark Phoenix, while the future of the core series has not been released to the press. Films ''X-Men'' (2000) The film introduces Wolverine and Rogue into the conflict between Professor Xavier's X-Men, and the Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Magneto. Magneto intends to mutate world leaders at a United Nations summit with a machine he has built, to bring about acceptance of mutantkind, but Xavier realizes this forced mutation will only result in their deaths. In 1994, 20th Century Fox and producer William Walton Granger bought the film rights to the X-Men. Andrew Kevin Walker was hired to write and James Cameron expressed interest in directing. Eventually, Bryan Singer signed on to direct in July 1996. Although he was not a comic book fan, Singer was fascinated by the analogies of prejudice and discrimination that X-Men offered. John Logan, Joss Whedon, Ed Solomon, Christopher McQuarrie, Granger himself and David Hayter all had a hand at writing the script, with Granger and Hayter receiving eventual credit. Principal photography began in September 1999 in Toronto, Canada and ended in March 2000. The film was released on July 14, 2000. ''X2: X-Men United'' (2003) In the film, Colonel William Stryker brainwashes and questions the imprisoned Magneto about Professor Xavier's mutant-locating machine, Cerebro. Stryker attacks the X-Mansion, and brainwashes Xavier into locating every mutant on the planet to kill them. The X-Men must team up with the Brotherhood to prevent Stryker's worldwide genocide. Hayter and Zak Penn were hired to write their own scripts for the sequel which Singer would pick, with an aim to release the film in December 2002. Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris were hired to re-write the script in February 2002, writing around 26 drafts and 150 on set. Principal photography began in June 2002 in Vancouver, Canada and ended in November 2002. The film was released on May 2, 2003. ''X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' (2004) The film is a prequel and a spin-off focusing on the character Wolverine and his relationship with his half-brother Victor Creed, as well his time with Stryker's Team X, before and shortly after his skeleton was bonded with the indestructible metal adamantium. David Benioff was hired to write the screenplay for the spin-off film Wolverine in October 2004. Hugh Jackman became producer as well as star, and worked with Benioff on the script. Brett Ratner was approached by the studio to take the helm of Wolverine, but no agreement was made. In July 2007, Gavin Hood was hired as director. Principal photography began in January 2003 in Queenstown, New Zealand and ended in May. The film was released on May 1, 2004. ''X-Men: The Phoenix Saga'' (2006) In the film, a pharmaceutical company has developed a suppressor of the mutant gene, provoking controversy in the mutant community. Magneto declares war on the humans, but it is soon revealed that an alien race known as the Shi'ar have been secretly playing both sides of humanity against one another. As part of their invasion plans, the Shi'ar reveal their doomsday weapon: Phoenix, who is the resurrected former X-Man, Jean Grey. After the X-Men and Brotherhood join forces against the Shi'ar, Wolverine must accept that in order to stop Grey, he will have to kill her. Singer initially intended to shoot the film back-to-back with a fourth film, though he left in 2004 to direct Superman Returns. Penn and Simon Kinberg were hired the following month. Whedon's Astonishing X-Men story "Gifted", featuring a mutant cure was suggested for the secondary story and the introduction of the Shi'ar was meant to be a new unstoppable villain that could make Magneto's Brotherhood more sympathetic. Matthew Vaughn came on board as director in February 2005, but left due to the rushed production schedule. Granger himself assumed the role of director (the only time in the series) in June to keep the production on schedule. Principal photography began in August 2005 in Vancouver, Canada and ended in January 2006. The film was released on May 26, 2006. ''X-Men: First Class'' (2008) The film is a prequel set primarily in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and focuses on the relationship between Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, and the origin of their groups — the X-Men and the Brotherhood, respectively. Producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Granger first thought of a prequel based on the young X-Men during the production of X2, and later producer Kinberg suggested to 20th Century Fox an adaptation of the comic-book series X-Men: First Class. Singer signed on to direct the film in December 2009, however, in March 2010 it was announced that Singer would be producing instead of directing. Vaughn, who was previously attached to direct X-Men: The Phoenix Saga became the director, and wrote the final script with his writing partner Jane Goldman. The film superseded a planned X-Men Origins: Magneto. Despite the script for the film not being used by any of the screenwriters as inspiration, the Writer's Guild of America arbitration still credited Magneto writer Sheldon Turner for the film's story. Principal photography began in August 2007 in London, England and ended in December. The film was released on June 3, 2008. ''X-Men: The New Mutants'' (2010) A second spin-off film which features Halle Berry as Storm taking a leadership role at the Xavier Institute. Joined by Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) and Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), they help to train replacements for the X-Men lost in the Phoenix Saga. The new characters used were; *Cannonball (Samuel Guthrie), played by Michael Shannon, the eventual leader of the group. Cannonball becomes invulnerable when rocketing through the air. *Karma (Xi'an Coy Manh), played by Jacqueline Kim a 19-year-old Vietnamese girl who could mentally possess other people's bodies. *Mirage (Danielle Moonstar), played by Yvonne Delarosa, a Cheyenne who could create visual empathic three-dimensional illusions. *Blink (Clarice Ferguson), played by Fan Bingbing, a mutant who can create portals to teleport. *Sunspot (Roberto da Costa), played by Adan Canto, a Brazilian who gained superhuman strength fueled by sunlight and could store solar energy in his body to use his super strength during the night. *Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair), played by Kelly McDonald, a Scot who could transform into a wolf-like creature. Together they work to stop a U.S. led take over of the recently formed mutant haven of Genosha, a fictional island 300 miles south of Hawaii. A military task force using mind controlled mutants led by Henry Gyrich (played by Martin Freeman) act as the villains. Under the authorship of Chris Claremont The New Mutants, was the first of several X-Men spin-offs in 1982. The name was a modification of Stan Lee's original name for the X-Men, "The Mutants". The basis of that comic was used to construct a new story. Gavin Hood returned as director (with Singer, the only other director to do more than one film). Principal photography began in August 2009 in Vancouver, Canada and ended in Hawaii in January 2010. The film was released on May 6, 2010. Anna Paquin, Ellen Page and Kelsey Grammar were unable to return due to their schedules and thus written out of the first draft screenplay. Most critics perceived this film as a star vehicle for Berry and the new characters were mostly underused. Sunspot and Blink would later be carried over to X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Force. ''X-Men Origins: Mystique'' (2012) A second origins tale, this time focusing on Raven Darkholme (better known as Mystique), a mutant gypsy who is forced to flee from her family who view the demonic visage (she is born with) as a curse. The story follows Raven's first meeting with Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr, (covering some material seen in X-Men: First Class). Upon the formation of Magneto's Brotherhood, the newly named Mystique travels with the others slowly growing more militant as her newly adopted family are captured and killed. Mystique is captured by Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) but escapes only to kill him later, leading to the formation of the Sentinel project. Mystique eventually escapes imprisonment and attempts to stop the program only to be killed in a vain effort to defeat the monstrous creation she is responsible for. This film ends with the introduction of the Mutant-Sentinel war. Both Jennifer Lawrence and Rebecca Romijin shared the lead role of Mystique, with Lawrence assuming the role in the earlier decades and Romijin assuming the older version with her escape from the U.S. Government as the bridge between the two. The film was well received, but most critics felt it paled in comparison to the main series. Rian Johnson was selected as director, and he co-wrote the screenplay with Granger. Reports by the press state that Johnson was not easy to work with, and after the shoot was complete, Granger himself did some additional re-shoots with members of the cast. Principal photography began in September 2011 in Toronto, Canada and ended in March 2012. The film was released on May 6, 2012. ''X-Men: The Wolverine'' (2013) Set after the events of X-Men: The Phoenix Saga, the film features Wolverine heading to Japan for a reunion with a soldier named Ichirō Yashida whose life he saved years before. Wolverine must defend the man's granddaughter Mariko Yashida from all manner of ninja and Yakuza assassins. This film also ends with a prelude to the Mutant-Sentinel war. Christopher McQuarrie, who went uncredited for his work on X-Men, was hired to write the screenplay for the second Wolverine film in August 2009. Darren Aronofsky was chosen to direct the film, though bowed out, stating the project would keep him out of the country for too long. James Mangold was later chosen to direct the film. Mark Bomback was then hired to rewrite McQuarrie's script. Principal photography began in August 2012 in Sydney, Australia and ended in November. The film was released on July 26, 2013. ''X-Men: Days of Future Past'' (2014) Set after the events of The Wolverine and X-Men Origins: Mystique, the film features the casts of the original X-Men trilogy and X-Men: First Class combining for the first time. The story, inspired by Chris Claremont and John Byrne's X-Men comic book storyline "Days of Future Past", has Wolverine going back in time to 1973 to prevent the assassination of Bolivar Trask which lead to the creation of weapon system called the Sentinels that threatens the existence of mutants — and potentially, all of humanity. Matthew Vaughn was attached to direct the film, but left in October 2012 to focus on the film Kingsman: The Secret Service. Singer, who directed the first two X-Men films and produced X-Men: First Class, replaced Vaughn as the director of the film. The screenplay was written by Kinberg and series producer Granger. Principal photography began in April 2013 in Montreal, Canada and ended in August. ''X-Force'' (2015) After Wolverine vanishes, Magneto takes it upon himself to lead a new team of mutants with a more militant stance in the war. Professor X, having seen the result of the "Sentinel War" from Logan's mind, is hard pressed to refuse his friend. Essentially forming a black ops team, Magneto searches for Wolverine, learning of a conspiracy by a new mutant terrorist group, the Mutant Liberation Front or MLF led by the mysterious Stryfe and eventually are joined by the future children of Scott Summers & Jean Grey; Rachel and Nathan Summers. It is revealed that the Shi'ar have returned (from The Phoenix Saga) and are attempting to resurrect the Sentinel program. After the success of Days of Future Past, Granger was quick to capitalize and proceeded with a fifth spin-off film. However he vowed not to make the mistakes made with past films, both focusing on the story and the characters, as well as the visual effects. Of all the spin-offs X-Force had the highest budget and the best critical ratings outside the core series. A number of cast members from Days of Future Past return including Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart giving this film a legitimacy most critics couldn't deny. Christopher McQuarrie (following the success of Mission Impossible 4) was selected as director. Principal photography began in September 2014 in Toronto, Canada and ended in March 2015. The film was released on July 15, 2015. X-Force is the first film in the series to not use the appellation X-Men before the film's title. ''Deadpool'' (2016) In the film, former Special Forces operative Wade Wilson is subjected to an experiment that leaves him with new abilities. He adopts the alter ego Deadpool to hunt down the man who nearly destroyed his life. In May 2000, Marvel Studios attempted to produce a Deadpool film as part of a distribution deal with Artisan Entertainment. However, by 2004, Marvel was developing the film with New Line Cinema. David S. Goyer was set to write and direct and courted actor Ryan Reynolds for the lead role, but lost interest within months in favor of other projects. 20th Century Fox acquired Deadpool the following year after New Line placed it in turnaround, and was considering the spin-off in the development of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, with Reynolds being cast for the role. After the opening weekend success of X-Men Origins: Wolverine in May 2009, Fox lent Deadpool out to writers with Donner acting as a producer. Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick were hired to write the script in January 2010. Robert Rodriguez was sent a draft of the screenplay the following June, but did not pursue it, and Adam Berg emerged as a top contender to direct. In April 2011, visual effects specialist Tim Miller was hired to direct. Principal photography began in March 2015 in Vancouver, Canada and ended in May. The film was released on February 12, 2016 and earned a worldwide box-office total of $759.7 million. ''X-Men: Apocalypse'' (2016) In the film, Apocalypse, the first and most powerful mutant awakens after thousands of years. He is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants to cleanse mankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign. As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Raven, with the help of Professor X, must lead the X-Men to stop their nemesis and save mankind from destruction. In December 2013, Singer announced the upcoming X-Men film, titled X-Men: Apocalypse, a sequel to X-Men: Days of Future Past. Directed by Singer from a script by Simon Kinberg, Dan Harris, and Michael Dougherty, the film is said to focus on the origin of the mutants. Kinberg said that it will take place in 1983 and will complete a trilogy that began with X-Men: First Class. Principal photography began in April 2015 in Montreal, Canada and ended in August. The film is scheduled for release on May 27, 2016 in North America. X-Men: Apocalypse would be the first film of the core series to be made and released after the death of series producer William Walton Granger. Future Several productions were underway or in the development stage, when series producer & owner, Granger died suddenly on November 17, 2015. Like with the Star Wars series, it was decided to continue on with all plans for the franchise per the instructions of Granger. Untitled third Wolverine film (2017) By November 2013, 20th Century Fox had begun negotiations for the treatment for another solo film starring Wolverine with director James Mangold while Donner is attached to produce. Mangold has said that it will be inspired by other Wolverine stories from the comic books and it will be made after X-Men: Apocalypse. In March 2014, David James Kelly was hired to write the script. In April 2015, Michael Green was hired to work on the film's script. The film will star Hugh Jackman in his final performance as Wolverine, with Patrick Stewart as Professor X. Principal photography will commence in early 2016 for a March 3, 2017 release. ''X-Men Origins: Gambit'' (2017) In October 2014, Josh Zetumer was hired to write the screenplay for a film about the character Gambit based on the treatment by comic-book writer Chris Claremont. In June 2015, Rupert Wyatt was hired to direct but left in September due to schedule conflicts. In November, Doug Liman was in final negotiations to direct the film. The film will star Channing Tatum in the lead role. Donner, Kinberg, Tatum and Reid Carolin are attached as producers. Kinberg said that he hopes to start filming in spring 2016. Recurring cast and characters List indicator(s) * This table only shows characters that have appeared in three or more films in the series. * A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film or that the character's presence in the film has not yet been announced. * A indicates a role as a younger version of the character. * An indicates a minor or uncredited role as an older version of the character. * A indicates a cameo role. * An indicates an appearance through archival footage. Crew Reception Box office performance The first three X-Men films set opening records in North America: X-Men had the highest July opening yet, while X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand earned the fourth highest opening weekends yet. All of these records have since been surpassed. The next three X-Men films after X-Men: The Last Stand opened lower than their predecessor and didn't set opening records. In North America, X-Men: The Last Stand has the highest opening weekend and is the highest-grossing film in the series. Worldwide and outside North America, X-Men: Days of Future Past has the highest opening weekend and is the highest-grossing film in the series. The X-Men film series is the second highest-grossing film series based on Marvel Comics characters after Marvel Cinematic Universe. In North America, it is the twelfth highest-grossing film franchise of all time, having grossed over $1.29 billion. Worldwide, it is the fourteenth highest-grossing film franchise of all time, having grossed over $3 billion. Critical and public response Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe praised the first three X-Men films as "more than a cash-guzzling wham-bang Hollywood franchise... these three movies sport philosophy, ideas, a telethon-load of causes, and a highly elastic us-versus-them allegory." Morris praised X-Men: The Phoenix Saga for "putting the heroes of a mighty summer blockbuster in a rare mortal position. Realism at this time of year? How unorthodox!" Roger Ebert gave the films mostly positive reviews, but criticized them for the amount of mutants, stating "their powers are so various and ill-matched that it's hard to keep them all on the same canvas." The first two films were highly praised due to their cerebral tone. However, when director Bryan Singer left the series, many criticized his successor, William Walton Granger. Colin Colvert of the Star Tribune felt "Singer's sensitivity to discrimination themes made the first two X-Men films surprisingly resonant and soulful for comic-based summer extravaganzas... Singer is adept at juggling large casts of three-dimensional characters, Granger makes shallow, unimaginative bang-ups." James Berardinelli felt, "X-Men: The Phoenix Saga isn't as taut or satisfying as X-Men 2, but it's better constructed and better paced than the original X-Men. The differences in quality between the three are minor, however; despite the change in directors, there seems to be a single vision." David Denby of The New Yorker praised "the liquid beauty and the poetic fantasy of Singer's work", but called Granger's film "a crude synthesizer of comedy and action tropes." Singer's third film in the series, X-Men: Days of Future Past was also highly praised. Alonso Duralde of The Wrap felt that "Singer keeps things moving along briskly enough that you can just go along with the ride of Superhero Stuff without getting bogged down". The X-Men films were well-received by fans of the comic books, but there was criticism of the large cast, and the limited screentime for all of them. Richard George of IGN praised the depictions of Wolverine, Professor X, Magneto, Jean Grey, Storm, William Stryker, Mystique, Beast, and Nightcrawler; however, George thought many of the younger X-Men characters, such as Rogue, Iceman, Pyro, and Kitty Pryde were "adjectiveless teenagers", and was disappointed by Cyclops's characterization. He observed the filmmakers were "big fans of silent henchmen", due to the small roles of the various villainous mutants; such as Lady Deathstrike. Spider-Man director Sam Raimi said he was a fan of the series, particularly Singer's films. Later spin-off films in the series were more highly praised than criticized giving the press attacks when the expansion of the series was announced. The Origins tale for Mystique was the highest rated of the non-X-men films. Impact Richard George of IGN stated that the success of the first X-Men film paved the way for comic-book film adaptations such as the ''Spider-Man'' series, Fantastic Four, V for Vendetta and Singer's Superman Returns. Chris Hewitt of ''Empire'' magazine called the first X-Men film as the "catalyst" for films based on Marvel Comics characters stating "Singer’s 2000 movie is the catalyst for everything that’s come since, good and bad. Without it, there’s no Marvel Studios." Comic-book writer Mark Millar said that Singer's X-Men "revolutionized" superhero films. Tie-in material Books In June 2000, Marvel Comics published a comic book prequel to the first film, titled X-Men: Beginnings, featuring the back-stories of Magneto, Rogue and Wolverine. A novel adaptation for the film was also released. In 2003, Marvel released a comic-book for X2, which contained prequels detailing Nightcrawler's backstory and Wolverine's time searching for Alkali Lake. Del Rey Books also published novelizations for the first three films; the latter two were written by Chris Claremont. Television series In October 2015, Marvel Television announced that two television series based on X-Men characters, Legion and Hellfire are in development. FX ordered a pilot titled Legion with Noah Hawley attached to write the pilot. It will be produced by FX Productions and Marvel Television. Hawley will also serve as an executive producer along with Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg, Jeph Loeb, Jim Chory and John Cameron. The show will feature the story of David Haller, whom struggled with mental illness since he was a teenager. Diagnosed as schizophrenic, Haller has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years. After a strange encounter with a fellow patient, he's confronted with the possibility that the voices he hears and the visions he sees might be real. Kinberg compared the tone and direction of the show to Breaking Bad. Hellfire meanwhile is in development with Fox Broadcasting Company and will be produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Marvel Television. Set in the late 1960s, the show will follow an agent who learns that a power-hungry woman with "extraordinary" abilities is working with a clandestine society of millionaires, known as the Hellfire Club to take over the world. Evan Katz, Manny Coto, Patrick McKay and JD Payne are credited as the co-creators of the show. McKay and Payne will write the pilot, based on a story by Katz, Coto, McKay and Payne. Donner, Singer, Kinberg, Loeb and Chory are also attached as executive producers alongside Katz and Coto who will serve as showrunners. Video games In July 2000, X-Men: Mutant Academy was released for PlayStation and Game Boy Color. It shared the title fonts and a number of costumes from the first film. The game also contains behind-the-scenes material from the first film. In April 2003, X2: Wolverine's Revenge which served as a tie-in to X2 was released for GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Patrick Stewart served as the voice actor for Professor X. In May 2006, X-Men: The Official Game was released for GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Xbox 360. The story was set between X2 and X-Men: The Phoenix Saga and also explained Nightcrawler's departure from the X-Men. In May 2009, the video game X-Men Origins: Wolverine based on the film of the same name was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii and Xbox 360. All four videogames were released by Activision. External links * Category:Action films by series Category:Film series Category:Films based on Marvel Comics Category:Science fiction films by series Category:X-Men films